When the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) gathers for its winter meeting starting Thursday in Atlanta, two items on its full agenda are likely to draw the most attention — deliberations and decisions with significant impact on Fisk and Florida A&M universities.
In the case of Fisk, one of the nation’s so-called “Black Ivy League” institutions that has been on probation or warning status for nearly four years, SACS will vote on whether to give the university a clean bill of health with no conditions or strip Fisk of its accreditation, an action that could hasten its demise.
FAMU, meanwhile, is hoping to have the “warning” status it was dealt nearly a year ago removed. That would be an acknowledgement that the university has successfully addressed a list of SACSCOC compliance concerns largely stemming from the fall 2011 death of a FAMU band member at the hands of fellow students participating in a violent hazing exercise.
At stake is millions of dollars in federal funds, as both tuition-driven institutions rely heavily on students being able to access federal grant and loan funds to pay their tuitions. The federal government does not provide funds to unaccredited institutions.
“All eyes are on this,” said Johnny C. Taylor Jr., president and chief executive officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Washington-based nonprofit that has long been an advocate for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and raised millions of dollars to fund student education.
Taylor, echoing advocacy colleagues, described the pending SACSCOC decisions as “the most important thing facing them” in a reference to the two institutions.
